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Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Do you know what? It's nice when pop songs aren't all cluttered up with noise. Sirens and klaxons and parping trombones are all well and good, but sometimes all you need is a strong melody and a sexy drum shuffle.

So thank goodness for Chloe Howl, who first cropped up on Discopop Directory last December. Her new single, Rumour, has lots of brilliant flourishes (the "bang-bang-clap" in the middle of the second verse, the post-chorus chorus) but none of them obscure the song. Which, coincidentally, is excellent.

Like Plan B minus the nihilism, Chloe narrates the story of four girls in terrible circumstances - "he kept her prisoner growing up, told her Jesus was enough" - before cautioning us not to believe everything we hear about strangers. It's a superb, narrative-driven lyric, which is a rare and precious commodity in the current pop scene. The fact that it comes from a 17-year-old makes it even more impressive, and suggests great things for Ms Howl, who has just "inked" a "deal" with Colombia Records.

Line Of Best Fit ran a cheeky interview with Chloe last week, which is worth clicking over to while you listen to the single. Nice.

PS: If you search for Chloe Howl on YouTube, there's a surprising number of dogs called Chloe being forced to bark by their owners. The human race, there.